While there are often bumps along the road as we travel through life, there are also moments of perfect contentment, if we just pause a moment or two and let everything be still. When things get too busy and distracting, escaping to my studio is a one way I can tune things out and actually feel peace flood over me. Does this mean everything is perfect? Of course not, that is in fact rarely the case, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have perfect moments of contentment in the midst of ‘life’.

When I started painting this portrait things were kind of hectic, we were getting ready to leave for a week and still getting Christmas put away etc. I worked on it for a few brief time periods and left it unfinished until we came back from vacation. I went up to my studio to unwind and reflect and put on some Eagles tunes (a tribute to Glenn Frey who passed away during our trip) and was thinking to myself I’m so glad that we went to see the Eagles when we had the chance. How many times do we put things off until later and later never comes? It made me thankful and content, a real ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’ moment. Sure there are things I wished I’d done but there are a lot of things that I did do and I’m content that I reached and stretched outside my comfort zone to get where I am today.

I am just getting back into my studio on a regular basis after a couple of months ‘off’ due to surgery on my feet and my studio being located upstairs:-) I’m recovering well thankfully.

I get asked frequently if I sell my work and in the past I’ve have been but only in person when I’m teaching or at a show, but I decided in 2016 that I will start offering work periodically online via my website so I’ve created a ‘SHOP” page to list work for sale. I’m not going to do a full blown shop with lots of listings, but it will give me a place to list work that I have available.

Available is my latest acrylic painting, first one of 2016! Titled ‘Portrait of Acceptance’ this is an 11″ x 14″ on museum quality wood panel. You can find the listing for this piece here.

Congratulations to Denise Spillane, Ajae McCain and Patricia Upshaw on winning a DVD! Please email me your shipping info at pamcarriker@gmail.com and I’ll get them in the mail to you!!!

I appreciate all of the comments left and hope that you’ll consider getting my DVD’s. I also wanted to let you know that they also each have an optional PDF download that you can purchase. This is great to have by you at your art table after you’ve watched the DVD so you can follow along while you create!

I’m thrilled to have been asked to write a couple of articles for a brand new publication all about my favorite subject matter! I’m eagerly awaiting my hard copy of this magazine, but already downloaded it because I couldn’t wait! Also stay tuned for some cool extras that will be coming along with this issue! Be sure to read all the way through this post to find out about a special GIVEAWAY that I’m offering!!!

From the Editorial Director: “I am thrilled to let you know about our newest special publication: FACES: Creating Mixed-Media Portraits is for all of you who love drawing faces—or who want to learn how. This issue is loaded with projects on drawing and painting portraits, plus creating portraits in collage, stitch, and even assemblage! Download the digital copy today: bit.ly/FacesDigital, and pre-order the print issue, due out August 18th: Check back soon for some fun related giveaways!” ~ Jeannine Stein

Discover a wealth of information and instruction for creating mixed-media faces!
From the editors of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine comes the premiere special issue magazine dedicated to mixed-media portrait art: Faces.

Inside this issue, you’ll find:

15 projects for artists of all skill levels
Techniques and tips for making features pop
Instruction for drawing expressive characters
And much more!

I also have some new DVD’s that go along really well with the types of techniques I share in the magazine. You can find out more about them by clicking on the images below.

And to celebrate I’ll be giving away three of my new DVD’s to three of the commenters on this post!!! So be sure to leave a comment below to be entered into the drawing. I’ll be drawing names next Monday, August 15th

Yesterday I did an amazon giveaway of 5 copies of my latest book and it was over in less than 5 minutes! Crazy!! So to give more people a chance to win a copy, I’ve set up the parameters a bit differently and I’m giving an additional 4 copies away today. All you have to do is click HERE to enter the giveaway! If you win you’ll know right away and amazon will ship your book directly to you! If you don’t win I hope you’ll consider purchasing it anyway and that you’ll join my Facebook Groupwhere you can share and find continued portrait inspiration!

I will also be teaching Mixed Media Portraits at a select few places in 2016. I’ve reduced my away teaching schedule to accommodate family life so if you’re interested in a live portrait class be sure to check out my Teaching Schedule for updated information, I will be adding a couple more venues that are in the works soon.

Some of you may remember one of my Shades of Grey workshops. They were conducted way before the books and movie of that title came out and I very much prefer my take on it;-)

Here’s a little workshop video I did for Strathmore Artist Papers a few years ago.I return to this simple palette again and again, it’s my favorite and exploring the tonal values in this way is such a good exercise for creating faces.

There are several projects in my new book, Mixed Media Portraits with Pam Carriker, that deal with exploring tonal values in the face and while the projects are meant to be fun, there’s also a lot to learn each time you explore the lights and darks of the face, or any object. A simple sketch is one way, but when you start to add in various media such as Conte Crayon, charcoal, acrylics, oil pastels and more you get an even more intense experience as you blend and create shades of grey.

I went back through my artwork and journals to pull 50 Shades of Grey in faces spanning the last several years. It’s always fun to take a look back and see how your artwork had evolved and what things still draw you that you continue to explore. I encourage you to take a look back at your work and reflect on what things still appeal to you as you go forward~

Wow! 2015 is off to a roaring start!!! The first week was a flurry of getting ready to head to CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) in Anaheim, CA. I taught a workshop there and it was really cool to see several of my mixed media friends teaching as well. Almost like teaching at a retreat only bigger classes and a whole different audience.

Traci Bautista, me, Mary Beth Shaw and Seth Apter, partners in crime! It’s so great to have good friends that back each other up when doing these types of events. We helped in each others classes, ate together walked the floor together, signed books and DVD’s together and pretty much were joined at the hip lol.

Mary Beth, Seth and I asked to have our classes back to back so we could each assist the others in their workshops. It was a long day but so much more fun when shared with friends like this!

At the end of the day I was rewarded with the advance copies of my book being overnighted by my publisher to the hotel!!!

The really cool thing was that last year at CHA is when I talked to Tonia Jenny (editor) about North Light publishing this book. I’d been working on it for about a year before that and really wanted to find a good fit in a publisher. I’m so thrilled with how they have handled this book and the amount of input I was able to give. It was awesome to get to see the first copy, hot off the press, with Tonia present!

The next day it was book/DVD signings for us and walking the floor with some meetings thrown in between. I did a little demoing with the signing alongside Mary Beth.

Those of you that follow me on Facebook or Instagram know that I love to knit in my spare time, it’s a great way to relax! It was very thrilling to be signing the same day as Vicki Howell from Knitting Daily TV.

After a whirlwind couple of days, I’m now home and things haven’t slowed down! The first journal spread is from the Documented Life Project I’ve decided to join in for the year. It’s a really great thing if you want to keep on track with your art journaling and there’s a huge following with a great community of artists.

I also gifted myself with a workshop from Gillian Cox. I never get a chance to take classes and I really want to explore my work in new ways so I signed up and have started her online course, Unearth Gather Create. I believe the class is full but you can click on the link to see what classes she has available.

I hope your year is off to a great start and that you’re finding time to do what you love!

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